‘The undisputed king of the Southern table’

While the importance of hogs may be overlooked by some, Dr. Jonathan Bass, professor and chair of Samford University’s Howard College of Arts and Sciences, university historian and a Pulitzer Prize nominated author, presented to the monthly Homewood Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on Aug. 15 why they are significant to Alabama.

Starting back to the mid 1500s, Spaniard Hernando de Soto brought a selection of pigs to Florida; those that were lucky enough to get away from the growing herd later populated the Southeast. Three hundred years later, Joel King Vann of Trussville was accused by the local First Baptist Church of stealing and raising a hog for slaughter. After much deliberation between himself and the church, he later declared himself in non-fellowship with the Baptists.

“The Joel Vann case was just one example of the importance of hogs in Alabama culture. Both symbolically and in realty, the hog has become engrained both in this state and throughout the region of the South,” Bass said.

He continued explaining that as cotton “has faded into the fabric of our lives,” the symbol of the hog has stayed with Alabama through time. He said too that past stories and sayings imply that, “Alabamians and hogs have similar temperaments: slow, leisurely, independent and hard-headed.”

“Our gentle porker friend has always had an exclusive and exalted place … in the hearts of Southerns and for Alabamians,” he said. Bass continued and said while the hog has gone by many names throughout history (woods rooter, mountain liver, gristle bear, razorback), the species has played a central role in the economy, culture and the diet of the state.

“If cotton ruled the South as a symbolic king, certainly, hogs took the throne as queen,” Bass said. At one point in the 1800s, hogs were valued at more than $500 million, more than twice the value of cotton at that time. Bass said that’s no wonder, considering Alabamians ate all parts of the hog, except for the squeal.

“This was the staff of life and the undisputed king of the Southern table,” Bass said. “One observer went so far to call the South the great hog-eating confederacy in the Republic of Porkdom.”

But the popularity of hogs reaches well beyond barbecue and dinner plates, Bass said, and finds itself in Alabama folklore.

“The popular belief in the state was to kill an attended hog at the first cold weather in October or November when the moon is light or waning,” he said.

The same folklore warned families of different consequences if they were to slaughter hogs at the wrong time of year. Hog-drivers were also a part of Southern history and were spoken of in similar ways to cowboys, confused although “the romance is just not quite there,” Bass said.

After the Civil War and Reconstruction, the history of hogs changed. Their numbers dropped and there was a decline in hog-raising, Bass said, as the South became more industrial. “The pig evolved and adapted to new conditions. Where else than in the South could you find a grocery store named The Piggly Wiggly?” he said.

It didn’t take long for the South’s obsession with hog meat to follow suit, with barbecue restaurants opening up left and right.

“As one author noted, ‘The pig has endured as a beloved symbol of excellence, and remains the closest thing we have as Southerners to European wine and cheeses,’” Bass said. It was as the restaurants were opening up that barbecue transitioned from something for special events to a common dinner table dish.

Over many years, pits across the Southeast have grown in popularity and feature different cuts and sauces. They even have their own fan bases, causing locals to take sides in favor of their favorite restaurant.

“As it’s been said many times, the three things folks take the most seriously are religion, football and barbecue,” Bass said. “Everyone has their own favorite barbecue, and man, it’s the best there is … Regardless, the state located the heart of the South, possesses the best barbecue in the region.”